Waikoloa Marriot at the Waikoloa Resort
The Waikoloa Marriot hotel is just about next door to the Hilton. The Marriot just completed a multi million dollar refurbishment in May of 2007. The new swimming pool is bigger than the old one. From what I can tell the place was gutted and totally rebuilt when I compare it to how it used to look.
You can walk straight out the back of the hotel to "A" bay. This is a nice sandy beach.
You can rent kayaks, windsurfers, paddle boats and sign up for scuba trips or whale watching. Before you get to the beach you have to cross the fish ponds. There is a nice little bridge with a sign that tells youhow the ancient Hawaiians used the ponds. Here, fresh water flowing underground from the mountains mixes with ocean tides. In ponds such as these, the ancient Hawaiians developed a unique system of aquaculture. Young fish entered from the sea through a grate (makaha) of poles set in the channel ('auwai) It connects with Kahapapa Pond to the north. Fishponds (loko) were treasures of the ruling chiefs (ali'i"). The name of this ancient oasis, 'Anaeho'omalu, commemorates the tasty 'anae (mullet) that were kept ho'omalu (protected) for the absentee rulers of this land parcel (ili) of Waikoloa, and for the nobility who paused here while traveling by sailing canoe along the coast. The permanent residents of "Anaeho'omalu were fishermen and custodians of the fishponds, who kept the ponds, clean of trash and excessive algae growth and guarded against poachers. Now that the Waikoloa Marriot is done being renovated it should be an excellent place to stay.
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which connects the smaller Kahapapa Pond to the sea. Grazing on algae, plankton, and small shrimp, they grew too large to escape back through the grate into the sea, and could be easily netted. The larger pond, Ku'uali'i is the photo here
